This week Christianparenting.org graciously published an article that I wrote regarding “Spiritual Growth Opportunities Brought to you by COVID-19.” I hope you read it along with many other great articles all designed to help you navigate the Covid crisis with your families.
There are a ton of resources for parents on this website. And this past week, they featured a terrific podcast with one of my favorite authors, Eric Metaxas.
Parenting With Gumption and Grit
Back in the day I was a pretty serious long distance runner. No 26.2’s, but I ran my share of half marathons. But this is how I processed those long races. I would always be anxious the night before, and the drive over, and finding parking at the event. Always my nerves would be chomping at the bit right up to the park and lock. Now, I’ve always been a person with a strong faith in Jesus coupled with an unapologetic fighting spirit. SO it was, as I arrived at the starting line, without fail, there was this total sense of peace that came over me. I wasn’t afraid of the 13.1 miles in front of me. It was as if the starting line was in effect, the finish line. I waited for the gun to go off feeling like a million bucks. And this mantra would go through my head. I made it. Crazy I know- because the race had only just started. But truly the worst of it was behind me. All I had left was the finish, and clearly that was in hand the minute the gun went off. Literally a jolt of adrenalin would shoot through me. I knew at that very moment, it was as good as done. Winston Churchill, one of the greatest statesmen of all times, and most courageous leader of the free world, delivered these famous words in a 1942 speech at London’s Mansion House, just after the British routed Rommel’s forces at Alamein, driving German troops out of Egypt. The battle marked a turning point in WWII: Churchill: Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” And THAT, my friends is pretty much exactly what I told my girl in Paris today. She is about to go into mandatory home confinement with the rest of her French allies. That means the physical company of both her friends and the local parks which she has so enjoyed up to now, will be no longer. I said to her “Shelby we are in the middle of this now. We have already conquered the starting line. We only have to finish. We can do it. I know we can. Keep your chin up, and most importantly keep your faith in the fight.” What about you? Are you hung up in the parking lot? You’ve already passed the starting line. So keep your faith in the fight.
